GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
October 16, 2025 • 9 AM AZ Time • Pima Room

Happy May!  I hear the clay studio is a lot quieter these days, but folks are continuing to produce some beautiful work.  Keep on creating!

Annual Bob Mohr Award Recipient

The Board nominated candidates and announced its selection at the April 2025 Board of Directors meeting.  Congratulations and a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Bob Singer - the 2024 Bob Mohr Award recipient.  Bob received unanimous support as the 2024 recipient.  His constant support for all that makes the studio run smoothly and looking great over several years is what brought him to the top of the list of candidates.  Bob received his award at the April Membership meeting.  Nominations for the 2025 Bob Mohr Award will be open to general membership in January 2026.     

General Update

• The iPad and Square for processing sales to members and gallery sales has been relocated to the Lobby wall behind the Monitor desk

• Wrapping supplies are in a cabinet behind the Monitor desk; bags are in the desk cabinet

• As discussed at the April Membership Meeting, CAM cards will be scanned prior to a member’s purchase of supplies, clay, tools; this ensures that the Monitor has confirmed that the member is in good standing.

• The GCA Board confirmed that Monitor duties include:
  1. greet members and visitors,  
  2. remind members to swipe their cards,
  3. process sales for members and visitors, and 
  4. assist Board members and group leads with requests as needed.

• All members are required to Monitor at least once every year.  As of early April, only 50% of members had monitored for 2025.

• We will be scanning CAM cards for attendance at Membership meetings

• Newsletters will continue to be published throughout the Summer months.  Updates regarding our anticipated renovation will be shared via the Newsletters.  All members are encouraged to share their “summer happenings” that would be of interest to fellow members as a Newsletter submission to Monique Greer at mogreer4az@gmail.com.

Board Member Election for 2026-2027 term

• Jean Zeidler will lead the Nominations Committee.  
• Solicitation of nominations will begin this summer (2025); online voting occurs in November 2025.
• Board position duties are now available on our website here.  

Glaze Room Feedback

Do you have comments, concerns, or suggestions for the Glaze Room?  Let us know!
Use the Glaze Room Request form located on top of the refrigerator.  Post it where we’ll see it, or email: GlazeLead@GrandClayArts.com

Glaze Room Practices

If you have leftover (soft) clay, we can use it for making test tiles.  Please bag and place in the white 5-gallon bucket on the tall table in the main studio.  Thank you.

Our Glaze Team ‘party’ on April 10 was our last get together for the season and yielded well over 550 test tiles!  Doesn’t this look like fun?  Consider joining our team next season.

Glaze Usage

Did you know…our yearly average is to mix 16 pounds of glaze powder every week? This is roughly 3 gallons of liquid glaze.  Most of this glaze is consumed during the busy winter months.

Looking at the chart below, our most popular glaze right now is Stoned Denim, with about 3.1 pounds of dry glaze powder used per week.  It has recently bumped Antique Jade into second place.

On the other end, Ochre was used the least, averaging just 0.1 pounds of dry glaze powder per week.  Since we have limited storage space, glaze usage review helps us decide which glazes to keep or retire.

We’re always on the lookout for new dipping glazes to spark fresh interest.  If you have any suggestions, we’d love to hear them!

Share Your Glaze Combos

Do you have a favorite glaze combination to share? 
Send a picture and the details to:  GlazeLead@GrandClayArts.com
 
This month, Judy Climan is sharing her results using our club’s Arabia Green.

The Redstone plates and B-Mix cup have:  2 coats Arabia Green brushed on  2 coats of Mayco Light Flux (only where you see the pattern) 1 more coat of Arabia Green

Update on GCA Expansion Plans

Since my last update, the property condition assessment was completed.  We are continuing with the plan to demolish the existing building and construct a new and larger one on the same site.

We are currently searching for a new architect using a RFP process.  Once selected, we will move forward with creating architectural and construction drawings.  Remodeling of the Photo Club is projected to start during the summer.  Their project will be a good test case.  

There are new members on the Grand Board of Directors (BOD).  How they will support this project is still being determined.  An initial move was to eliminate the board liaison from our Large Project Team.  This signals a more ‘hands-off’ approach to let CAM do their job.

Video recordings of Grand BOD meetings are available on the Grand website and the agenda are sent out to all residents the day before.

Will everything come together for us this summer? Only time will tell. Last year brought a set of challenges, this year will certainly bring new ones.  

As with any renovation, there are many details to work through and trade-offs to consider. We’ve identified teams and points of contact to assist throughout the process.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please text Jim Donaldson or send an email to GlazeLead@GrandClayArts.com

While it’s easy to get distracted by the fun of working with clay, remember to keep health and safety in mind.  Minimizing dust exposure is one area where we can all help.  Breathing in clay materials (especially silica) can cause inflammation and scarring in the lungs, making it difficult to take in oxygen.  There are many ways YOU can help minimize dust exposure in our studio.

Cleaning surfaces:

Use a clean, wet sponge to wipe tables and countertops.  Immediately, dry the same area with a clean, dry cloth or a couple of paper towels. Scrape large pieces of clay off the wedging table while they are still wet.  Follow up with a wet sponge. If clay falls on the floor, pick it up.  Use a mop if necessary.

When smashing or pulverizing dry clay. When sanding or smoothing pieces. When dropping bags of clay. DO NOT drop clay bags INSIDE.

Also…

Use a rolling pin or the slab roller to flatten clay, do not throw it on the wedging table. Avoid sweeping the floor; instead, use a wet mop.

Thanks everyone!

Maxine with one of her beloved dragons. See more below!

When did you move to the Grand and where did you move from? 
I live way up in central Alberta, Canada, in a condo for seniors part of the year.  My husband and I were going back and forth to Arizona for 25 years.  He passed away in 2016.  When I’m here in the Grand, I live with my son and his family.  I also have a daughter who lives part-time in Sun City, and two sons who live in Alberta.  Together, there are 3 grandsons, including two 16-year-old twins.
 
Out of all the activities offered at the Grand, why did you choose Clay Arts? 
I had worked with clay 50 years ago and thought it would be fun to get back into it.
 
What other activities do you participate in?
In addition to pottery, I enjoy working with glass and spend time in the Glass Arts studio as well as my glass studio in our garage.  I’ve been an acrylic painter for years and enjoy that as well.  When I’m home in Alberta, I belong to a quilting group. We are working on quilts that we’ll be donating to a local battered women’s shelter.  In addition, I’m crocheting these little dragons that I’d like to donate to the local police and ambulance groups that work with kids that have been traumatized.  I’ve made 14 so far!  I like making things to give away to others. 

Do you prefer working on the wheel or hand building? 
I really enjoy doing both.  My advice to anyone starting out on the wheel, or wanting to improve, is to keep at it until you achieve your goal.
 
Have you taken any classes and, if so, what’s a class you’ve taken that brought you joy?
I probably take 5-6 classes each year.  I recently took the Leapin’ Lizards class and really enjoyed making these lizards so much that I made 5 of them in one week!  I understand this may be some kind of record.
 

Do you prefer apples or oranges? 
I like oranges, if they’re from our tree in the Grand! 
 
What do you love the most about GCA?
I love the camaraderie.  Everyone is so friendly and helpful – always ready to share their ideas. 

If there is someone you would like to recommend for this section, send a text to 206-420-9864 or email mogreer4az@gmail.com. Thanks!

May is the month we say “until next season”  to our many clay club friends.  It’s also a great time to reflect on the 2024/2025 busy season from an educational perspective. 
 
Here are a few stats:

• 4 members took on the role of teaching a class for the first time in our club
• 95 classes were offered from Oct through May…. That’s A LOT of classes
• 6 brand new classes were offered
• 2 classes were resurrected and offered after not being available for a number of years
• Alternative Firing program enticed a few first timers to try alternative firing (they’re hooked)

Many thanks to the following members who teach us skills, challenge our creativity, and help us make FABULOUS stuff.  Your skills, talents, and the time you give us make our club members realize their artistic potential. 

• Anita Britton 
• Dave Dick
• Connie Johnson 
• Brian Marx
• Diane Niehof
• James Perez-Wood
• Pat O'Brien
• Sandi Schulzetenberg 
• Renee Silberman 
• Sherri Singer
• Cyndi Swintek 
• Janet Wear

Bring your CAM card to General Meetings

As many have noticed at our last General Meeting, we switched over to using a scanner to register attendance at the meeting.  We are expecting that this will make check-in go faster.  So...please have your CAM card (physical card or on your phone) ready as you enter the meetings.  Don't worry if you don't have your card with you, there will still be paper sign-in.
 
Service Hour Notes

First of all, everyone is doing great with logging service hours, and we very much appreciate it!  Here are the tips to remember:

• Please be timely with your submissions.  Try to get your hours submitted in the month they are worked.  We do go back in time to assign service hours in the appropriate month, so if they are late, it’s more work for our volunteer.

• You can aggregate hours within a single month.  If you accrue hours throughout the month, you can submit one "Log Service Hours" entry with all the hours.  For example, Openers may have a set schedule to open every Friday, so submitting one entry for all the hours in the month is fine.

Here again is the path to check your service hours:
After logging in, on the members main page > "Volunteering" button > Volunteering Reports
 
If/When we are closed

Many of you have asked about service hours if/when the studio is unavailable.

• We will capture the hours each person has at the time of closure, then reinstate them once the studio is up and running.  You won't lose any hours.

The website will still be operational, so if you do earn volunteer hours during that timeframe, continue to log them as usual; they will be recorded.
​
Shout-outs!

• Pam Davidson aggregates all sorts of varying data to generate the Participation Reports each quarter that CAM requires.
• Bella Frederiksen sets aside a day each month to input everyone’s “Log Service Hours” entries.
• ​Sam Valenti sets up each of the Volunteer Calendars, for Monitors, Glaze Room, and Kiln Ops, so sign-up is available for the upcoming months.
   

​A BIG THANK YOU to each of you!

We would like to see the gallery full for the summer months.  

• If you are a snowbird, you can have 5 pieces in the gallery but must have someone who can pick them up if the studio closes down for construction.  We know that’s a big IF but want to be prepared just in case.  

• If you’re here through the summer, you can have 8 pieces but also need to have a backup person in case you are unavailable to pick up, if needed.  

Everyone’s pieces can stay in the gallery for the entire summer.  There will be no 2-month rule.

When you get back in the Fall, you will need to remove the pieces that have not sold and consider submitting new pieces.  Remember to remove from the online gallery, too.  

I will be back early October and ready to refresh our in-studio gallery with exciting new art from all our talented artists.  If you have any questions, you can email me at sherrisinger@hotmail.com.

Originally from Washington, Richard Dye may be our oldest and most experienced Grand Clay Arts member.  He just celebrated his 94^th birthday on April 27!

Over the years at GCA, Richard enjoyed hand building, throwing, raku and alternative firing.  In recent years, he became an expert in basket weaving and incorporated clay pieces into his new favorite medium. 

Richard would love to hear from some of his pottery friends.  You can reach him by phone at 360-229-2863 or send a note to his new address: 

Richard Dye
c/o Elder Joy Assisted Living
11514 N 170^th Lane
Surprise, AZ 85388
 

 grandclayarts.com